A nation caught in the 20-Trap

The Chairman of Litro Gas Lanka, Mr. Thesara Jayasinghe, is certainly a big power – the mighty muscleman in Pohottuva governance. He was brought back as head of Litro less than a day after his removal from the position by Secretary to the Ministry of Finance.

Well, by whom and how did this happen?

It was by none other than the President of Sri Lanka himself – Gotabaya Rajapaksa!

Let’s forget (if possible) all those gas blasts – especially during the festive season. Just rub off your mind the news about more than 800 blasts from Litro gas cylinders, the several persons – mothers and children killed, and many more injured. That is not the stuff of importance for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Just keep in mind that anyone appointed by President G, can and should only be removed by him. Not even by the Treasury Secretary, who directly serves under the President’s brother, Basil Rajapaksa.

This is the show of the new trend and trail of governance in Sri Lanka.

It is certainly a reminder to many, and even all, that we are not governed by any democratic process, but by the aim and goal of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

In fact, 20 Stuff – is the substance of governance in Sri Lanka.

This should certainly remind Susil Premajayantha MP, how and why he was removed from his ministerial rank, even without a letter to him. Premajayantha was among the SLPP members who so gladly and loudly supported and voted for the 20A. What else could he have expected, other than the stuff of a dictatorial 20A?

There are others too who must also understand and respect this reality.

Just think of former President Maithripala Sirisena. He certainly did a lot during his presidency, spending hours in Parliament, too, to get the 19th Amendment passed. It was the legal move to remove the authoritarian and near dictatorial powers that the Rajapaksas gained through 18A.

But it is the same Sirisena who voted for the 20A, which removed all the democratic advances of the 19A.

All other members of the SLFP, in parliament, too, had better bear this in mind. They too did give their “ayes” to the Gotabaya driven 20A, and saw the complete reversal of what party leader Maithripala Sirisena did in passing the 19A.

Would Vasudeva Nanayakkara, and his present allies in a Cabinet member protest on the New Fortress energy deal of the Rajapaksas, also not recall that they gave their glad and bubbly ‘ayes’ to the 20A – which also allowed dual citizen Basil Rajapaksa to be an MP, Minister and even President, too.

The people of Sri Lanka are now caught in the Vissey Ugula or the 20-Trap.

It is a trap that keeps the Pohottuva governance alive and strong in its powerful and cheerful swing to corruption in all its forms, the manipulation of contracts, the cheating of the Cabinet, the appointment and keeping in place of failures, crooks and huge swindlers, and the swing and sway of the Rajapaksa Pavula.

With the speedy re-appointment of the Litro boss, by none other than President Gotabaya himself, we are clearly told that enough is enough about gas blasts. We will soon have Pohottuva Pundits – even in yellow or any other robes – tell us that gas blasts are part of the historic traditions that kept our kings in place and power, with plenty of “Jaya Hoovas” and no gas at all.

Let’s just see how the judiciary functions in the coming months, it being the only hope that people can have about the democratic process; a situation blatantly challenged by the Attorney-General’s Department itself, as well as the Commission of Bribery and Corruption.

As the Litro boss is assured of presidential blindness about the suffering of the people from gas blasts, such massive blindness on all aspects of governance from the Central Bank downwards, is the rising substance of Rajapaksa Governance.

It is the massive rise of failure, with the 20-Trap having its sway in the dirty governance of Sri Lanka.